Improvement in governors foe steam-engines



'geintrgister tttrrtt @frn THOMAS ALSOI, OF ELKHA'RT, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent No. 8I,4`,55, dated August 25, 1868.

IMPRQVBMENT In Governors ron STEAM-ENGINES.

; TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:-

Beit known that I, THOMAS ALs0P, of Elkhart, in the county ot' Logan,and State of Illinois, have invented a new and improved Steam-Governor;and I do hereby declare-that the' following is a full, clear, and exactdescription'of the construction and operation of the same, making a partof this specification, in which-f Figurel is a vertical-axial section.

Figure '2 is a cross-section through the liners z ot' fig. V1.-

Figure is a similar sectionI through the line y y of fig. l.

l The object of this invention is to construct a steam-governor, withits parts so arranged 'and operating that I, it" the belt slips, or anaccident happens to the inachinery, the governor will cut off Vthestcamand stop the engine,v`in addition to properly performing itsfunctions as a steam-regulator at other times.

To this end the valve-stem `isenot connected permanently with or made apart ofthe vertical-revolving shaft or rod' which rotates thegovernor-arms and balls, but the connection between the two verticalrods or stems is made by an independent rod between them, which engageswiththe upper rod by a clutch. When the beltshaft is properly receivingits motion from the engine, and -applying it to the governor, the'clutch remains engaged, and the apparatus regulates the supply of thesteam to the engine, but when from any cause, as thev slipping ot' thebelt, or otherwise, the motion of the belt-shaft falls behind thatacquired by the governor-balls and their stem, the clutch becomesdisengaged, nnd'drops a weight, which closes the steam-valve, cuts .otthe feed, and'stops the engine ateneo. v

In the drawings, A indicates a hollow globe,y of brass o1' othersuitable material, in which the valve that cuts oif or regulates the owof steam from the boiler to the engine is denoted hy-the letter B, abeing the pipe which connects the globe totlie boiler, and a that whichpasses from it to the cylinder.A E E are. arms which support the`cylinder D, in which the revolving, sliding, vertical rod O, thatactuates the arms'a c, sind balls, F F; slides up and down: -lhe armslare pivotcd to lugs e e attached to the top of thefslijding rod O, andtheir inner ends are ettached'to or connected with the upper end ofanother vertical rod, I, whichslides up and down throngh the centre ofthe revolving rod C,'being raised as the governor-balls drop, anddepressed as they rise. The inner rod, I, does not rotateindependently/.of itsenelosing-rod O, the two being connected togetherby a spline and key, which allow independent vert-iealbut notindependent rotary motion.

' The outer rod, C, is put in motion by the belt-shaft G throughgearring g g, and raises or depresses the governor-balls in proportion toits v cloeity of revolution. It', follows, therefore, that the inner rodI will be depressed just inl proportion to the velocity of Vrevolutionot' the enter. rod C, or in 4proportion to thespeed of the engine. As itis depressed, it' thrusts downthe vali/e B by means of a connecting-rod,J, the upper end of which is pressed against'by the lower endof rod I,,its lower end pressing against the upper end of the valvesteui bf- Asthe steam fails, und the balls drop and raise the rod I, the rod .I andvalve-stem b follow it, through the operation of a weighted lever, L,which presses them upward when not countcraeted by the highpspecd ofreference being had to the accompanying drawings,

the balls..

Therod, O, is made in two parts, O and C. The upper end ot' the lowerpart C is provided with clutch-l shoulderstu'm, Avertical on oneside andinclined on the other. The lower end of the upper part C is providedwith two clutch-pins n n', which engage with the shoulders m m whenthe-part O tends to inove faster than the part O, ornwhe'n the power isapplied frein O to C, cansin,r the two parts, O and C', torevolvetogethcr. But when, from any cause whatever, tho motion of tb'elower part, O', is retarded, so that thenpper part, from its momentum,gains upon it, the clutch does not operate, but the upper part moves onindependently of the lower part. Y i

In order to make the parts run smoothly, without juror friction as faras possible, I set the pins nu' looseiy in sockets, which pertnit thentorise out of the way when the part C is running faster than the part C.To effect this,`it is only necessary to bevel the lower,.end -ot' thepins in the proper manner, to cause them to rise easily over theinclines in the end of part C', and to arrange them in vertical holes inthe lower end of part C, so that they will rise when passing up the saidinclincs, and drop when free again. Ii, then, the part C run faster thanthe part C', the pins will rise out of the way,'but if the part C' runfaster than the part C, the pins will drop and engage with the shouldersm m, and the wholerod C C will revolve together.

Fig. 3 shows the pinsel n thus engaged with the shoulders m m.

The upper end, fr, of the intermediate rod J, is made rectangular, orwith rectangular cross-section. Many other forms would answer as well,perhaps, as may be seen from. the description of its function, ashereinafter set forth, but I prefer 4the rectangular form, as being thesimpler. This end rests against the lower end of rod I, supporting thelatter, and affording the means for thc latter to move the valve-stem,as above explained. There is, however, an axial opening or hole, s, inthe lowcreml of part I, extending upward a considerable distance, and ofthe form of the upper end of rod J, so that, lwhen brought directly overthe rod J in the same positionfthe upper end, r, of rod J will lit intothe opening, and, by the force of' the Weightedlever L, the rod J willsuddenly risc, lifting the valve B, so as entirely to cnt off the steam.A

`The opening, s, in the rod I is so arranged, in connection with theclutch m m, n n in rod G C', thatvhen the clutch is engaged, the openingstands directly across" the end, r, so that the part I holds the rod Jdown, keeping the valve B open. When the part C gains on the part C',however, the opening gradually turns round until it corresponds inv'position to the end, r, when the rod J rises atonec and cuts oli' thesteam.

The rod, J, is prevented from rotating independently of the part C by aspline, v, just as the rod I is incapable of rotating independently ofthe upper part'C, so that the gaining of the part C over the part C isalways necessary to enable the lever L to drop and raise the rod J. Aslong as the clutches are engaged, and thc part C does not gain upon the`part C", the rods remain. connected, and the valve is simply regulatedby the governor-balls, but the moment thehbelt slips, or any otheraccident happens to the machinery, that delays or retards thcmotionofthe belt-shaft, and thereby of the part C', the momentum of' the ballscarries the part C ahead until the end, r, drops into the opening s,when the steam is shutoff by the action of lever L,.and the engineautomatically stops.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The arrangement of the independent rod J, resting vupon the rod orstem i), and having its upper end held against the rod I by means of alever, L, or its equivalent, whereby the ingress ofsteam is controlledor arrested, substantially as herein set forth. I A

2. The combination of the parts C C', clutch m n, and'rods I and J,substantially as described.

3. The weighted lever L, or its equivalent, in combination with thevalve-stem b-and steam-governor apparatus, n such a way that, when themotion ofthe belt-shaft is retarded, as compared with that ofthegovernor-- balls, the weight will be dropped, and the cut-od' valvethereby closed, substantially as described.

To the above specification of my invention I havesign'ed my hand, this25th day of June, 1868.

THOS. ALSOP.

Witnesses:

Guns; A. PETTIT, SoLoN C. KEMoN.

